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"Blacken the sky Can't stand to see the sun The truth of light Reveals the hatred that has won" – I Saw The End by Pallbearer

Ardormort is a newer band with its inception coming about earlier this year and their debut EP Exist For Nothing… only coming about a few months ago. Fast forward to the present and this one man band has unleashed yet another offering that is self titled. Immediately you can tell the difference between the EP and this self titled release as the musicianship is tighter as is the song writing as a whole. Within the seven tracks that are presented within this release you are treated to a menagerie of genres as Ardormort sews black metal, doom, synth, atmospheric tendencies and much more together to create a unique and intriguing sound.

This murky release shape shifts constantly, ever providing you with diversity and variety, never for you to hear the same sound twice. Ardormort does a great job of mixing and matching genres creating an all together fluid and cohesive sound. Never once do other genres trip over each other as each one works together pretty seamlessly. With all of the genres that are within this release listed above, you may seem to think that the sound would be jumbled and chaotic, but it is quite the opposite. This self titled release is a fluid and comprehensive from beginning to end.

There is no denying that the overall sound is odd, that much you cannot fight, but all at the same time it is compelling and unique. More than just black metal and doom, the most interesting aspects of this release are the synth oddities and strange atmospheres that work in coalescence with the black metal and doom genes. The synth elements work well within this offering as it provides you with a dark undertone and atmosphere that is hard to ignore.

With all of its oddities and with all of the genres that are worked in here, this self titled release is a nice step up from the debut EP. Everything comes together nicely here and nothing feels out of place as each element finds its right place among the blackened noise.

Totaling near thirty minutes, Labour is a track that is separated in to parts by spoken word that spin a harrowing tale of drug addiction and that the only thing that brings this person in the story any happiness is digging a hole. Labour is consuming, enveloping, atmospheric, ambient, harrowing, melancholy, gripping and so many more descriptors that could not do the weight of the music justice. Clawing has a great ability to draw you in to their music, gripping you tightly and bringing you along for the tale that they weave. This track is broken down exceptionally giving plenty of time to tell the tale as well as completely encompass you in the dark and melancholic ambiance that they provide.

As Labour swells up from out of the darkness, it begins with ambient noises of dirt being dug accompanied by melancholic guitar tones that comes complete with one striking line, “will you put me out to pasture?”. From here on, Labour creeps along at a slow burning pace, ever filling you with darkness and ever encompassing you in bitter, cold and mind breaking atmospheres and ambiance. This ambiance is filled with hopelessness, devoid of all light and humanity. As Labour marches forth, it guides you down darkened corridors, ever pressing your mind back in to the shadows, ever needling at your emotions, making you feel unsettled and uneasy.

Labour brings everything down to earth, as it spins a tale that hits close to home not only for me, but for many others out there. The overall sound of this release is one that represents a lot of emotion that goes along with dealing with addiction. It is dark, twisted, grounded, melancholic and terrifying all in the same. Clawing has presented something here that evokes a lot of the emotions that their track is trying to portray. Every note can be felt and the ambiance hangs over you like a darkened cloud never to fade until the final note has receded back into obscurity.

This is a great release, one that is grounded in reality and one that can hit home for a lot of people. The music overall is great, the noise elements, the ambiance, everything about it is well done. Mix that in with a story that hits you like a ton of bricks, and one that really evokes emotions that you may not have wanted to touch on, you get a release that really draws you in. Overall, Labour is a very solid release, one that should be heard.

Gridfailure is a project that makes you feel as uncomfortable and as unnerved as any other, if not more than any other project. With discordant sounds, mind impaling noise, nightmarish atmosphere among many other descriptors, Gridfailure creates an overall sound that makes your flesh crawl and your mind delve in to the deepest recesses. Irritum is the title of Gridfailure’s newest offering, and within this slab of insanity comes thirteen brand new tracks of pure dementia and paranoia. Each track is maniacal, twisted and steeped in pure mind bending darkness and hysteria. Listening to Irritum front to back is like stepping in to the mind of the insane and witnessing first hand all of the discordant, schizophrenic thoughts that bounce around.

With all of the unique sounds that are used throughout Irritum, one would have to imagine that the overall sound would just be a mess, but that is far from the truth. Even with as many elements as Gridfailure pumps in to each track they all work together in sickening cohesion to bring to you something that is unique and all together unsettling. Each track is masterfully crafted to gift you with visions of a never ending void that are filled with every nightmare that you have dreamed up only for them to stare right back at you.

Once you press play, each track surges with intensity and purpose, and that purpose is to drive you toward the edge. These off kilter dirges of darkness and despair mesmerize and put you in a trance like state from which you cannot break out of. Even as dark and insane as each track truly is you cannot break away from your speakers even for a minute. Each minute of this fifty plus minute monolith of nightmare is filled with nothing but skin crawling and mind bending noise that ushers you through corridor after corridor of paranoia.

Irritum is a gripping, unwelcoming release that slowly invites you in to its domain of breathing obscurity. With each passing second you cannot help but to fall in to an even deeper trance never breaking out of it until the final dissonant note has sounded. Irritum is pure lunacy and that is what makes it so appealing and so enthralling. This unique mashing of noise works so well making for a unique and overall great listening experience. Once you begin listening, you feel uncomfortable and paranoia begins setting in as you are fading in and out of obscurity, and those feelings and thoughts that creep in to your head make this effort fascinating as well as devastating.

Even with a lengthier run time, Irritum never overstays its welcome and before you know it the entire release is over. This is a record that sucks you in, grabbing you by the throat never to release you until you have finished listening. Overall, this is a sinister, nightmarish release that is hard to stop listening to.